Milford man using a metal detector to save history

Levi Durst, of Milford, shows a spoon he found using his metal detector on Arrowhead Farm. Durst was asked by the Madeira Historical Society to search for lost artifacts in Madeira.(Photo: Marika Lee/ The Community Press)Buy Photo

In late March, Levi Durst, armed with his metal detector, went searching around the nearly century-old Miller House in Madeira looking for lost artifacts.

Durst, of Milford, was contacted by Madeira Historic Society Spokesman Doug Oppenheimer, who had heard about Durst’s knack for finding lost pieces of history with his metal detector.

“Literally in the first five minutes I was there, I went there and in my third hole, five minutes in I find a military button. It is pretty sweet,” Durst said.

Oppenheimer and Durst first connected at First Watch in Kenwood, where Durst is a server. Durst overheard Oppenheimer talking about the Madeira Historic Society and they started talking about local history.

“I discovered he has really done a great service for the Milford community. I was so impressed I asked him to come over to the Miller house to find something we could display at our museum,” Oppenheimer said.

For Durst, conducting searches is a hobby that has has morphed into a passion over the last few years. He has found anything from Revolutionary War era buttons to antique spoons to World War II dog tags.

“There is great potential to recover history that people of walking on top of and don’t realize it is there,” Durst said.

Durst has found many relics at Arrowhead Farm in Milford, which was built in the 1820s and owned by the Gatch family since the 1850s. Fittingly, the property was named Arrowhead Farm because of the amount of arrowheads and other Native American artifacts found there when the fields were plowed. Some properties, such as Arrowhead, have caused Durst to become reverential.

“I don’t know how to explain this (Arrowhead) property. It is very strong, the presence that you get here. I felt drawn to this particular property,” Durst said.

Durst said he experienced a similar feeling during a recemt Memorial Day when he was digging a hole, without his metal detector, and found World War II dog tags and French coins. The tags belonged to John N. Gatch, Jr., who served in France during World War II. Durst said he gave the property to members of Gatch’s family.

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Today, the Arrowhead Farm is in the process of becoming the Valleyview Nature Preserve, and many of Durst’s finds will be on display at the museum.

“There are even a lot of local historical societies that don’t want to share their stuff. They have it in drawers and they keep it in closets. I want it to be shared and I want the information to be spoken about,” Durst said.

He posts photographs of his finds on his Instagram account, which has more than 1,500 followers. He researches the items on his own and sometimes gets help from his Instagram followers.

“Anytime there is going to be development or land that is getting moved or a historic property that has to get torn down, there should be somebody allowed in there to come and save stuff like this,” Durst said.

Want to know more about what is happening in Madeira? Follow Marika Lee on Twitter: @ReporterMarika